Samuel Hahnemann
Samuel Hahnemann
was born on April 10, 1755 in Meißen on the Elbe and died on July 2, 1843 in Paris. He became a doctor at a time known for its radical therapeutic methods. These were primarily draining procedures such as excessive bloodletting, enemas and other measures. These weakened the patients with no real visible benefit. The effect of these therapies was neither tested nor was there any experience. It was speculated and passed on from generation to generation through the belief in authority. Samuel Hahnemann came from a humble family. The father was a porcelain painter at the porcelain factory in Meissen, a job that didn't bring in much. Hahnemann was therefore forced to earn his own living. Since he was very gifted in languages, he mastered Greek, Latin, English, French, Hebrew and Arabic, he translated many medical, pharmacological and chemical books of his time and thus gained deep insights into the knowledge of that time. He provided many texts with comments because he was endowed with a critical mind. In a translation by the English pharmacologist Cullen, who claimed that cinchona bark helps against intermittent fever due to its stomach-strengthening effect, his independent thinking forced him to contradict. So in 1790 he began to verify this claim. The first principle of homeopathy came into being: "What a medicine does is determined by testing it on healthy people". The so-called drug proving on healthy subjects. He found out that taking certain amounts of cinchona bark caused certain symptoms to appear in his body, which disappeared again when the intake was stopped. He documented everything very carefully and when comparing the symptoms that appeared with those of the actual symptoms in people suffering from intermittent fever, he remarked that these were not exactly the same but very similar symptoms. In 1796 he presents his experiences and conclusions as his second principle. The similarity principle, also known as the similarity rule. "Similiar similibus curentur" May like be cured by like. In his main work, the Organon of the Healing Art, he writes this down in the following definitive form. "In order to heal gently, quickly, reliably and permanently, in every case of illness, choose a medicine that can arouse a similar ailment (homoion pathos) for itself as it is intended to heal." In this brilliant work he describes the exact procedure from now on of homeopathy. This can still be read today in its last issue of the sixth edition. In order to differentiate itself from other currents in homeopathy, the method based on Hahnemann's rules was called classical homeopathy at some point. This designation is, so to speak, the seal of approval for this form of therapy. Samuel Hahnemann was an excellent observer. By recognizing the laws of nature, he drew conclusions about disease and healing processes. He was the first of his time to describe the importance of external influences, be it through life or nutrition. Emotional backgrounds became important facts for him because he closely observed the way his patients reacted to an illness. In a way, he was the founder of modern psychotherapy. What our physicians call psychosomatics today was a completely normal observation of life circumstances for Hahnemann. Therefore, it is possible for a person to develop asthma after the death of a partner or child, or through some other stressful event in their life. Asthma as a result of grief therefore requires different medication than, for example, as a result of anger. Conventional medicine with its medication cannot take these backgrounds into account. That is why homeopathy is a holistic treatment, ie not the body but also the mind and spirit are important. Hahnemann said that illnesses are an expression of depressed vitality and placed great emphasis on - What is behind it? Why did man get sick?